Posted on 01/07/2004 4:50:52 PM PST by StAthanasiustheGreat
This year I began a Small Group Ministry at my University Catholic Center to reach out to the Catholic Community at my school. The principle element of this program, are small groups that meet once a week for Bible Study, Prayer, etc. Originally I was pushed by someone (a liberal) into not having an overarching "this is what this scripture means" approach, rather having a "what do you get out of this scripture approach." I was happy to have my Study, and didn't complain, well, now I am being more proactive and I am changing that approach. For Each study I print our and put together a leaders sheet for the studies, I want to add a Catholic Commentary to it, something that fleshes out the readings and discusses the Truths that the Scripture reveals. However, I don't own a Commentary, and don't know where a easy to use, but good online commentary can be found (does New Advent have one?). I am hoping that this Commentary can increase the Orthodoxy in each Small Group. Thank You.
God Bless
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Concerning daily meditations, I recommend "Conversation with God", a series of 7 booklets published by Scepter, and authored by (I don't have his name handy - an Opus Dei Priest). These are 10-15 minute reflections on the readings of the day for the whole Latin Rite liturgical year.
the Navarre Bible collection,
A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture (Dom Orchard General editor. 1953. Thomas Nelson and sons Ltd publisher. I bought mine from a fella in Australia after finding him via the internet. I think I paid $50 or so and it was worth every single penny - and more),
The Faith of the Early Fathers (William A. Jurgens. smashing collection)
The Catechism of Perseverance (Amasing 4 volume collection found in a used book store. Abbe Gaume was a genius),
Liturgical Year (Dom Gueranger. a must buy)
I used to live in So. Maine and I haunted used book stores and found increddible deals - I bought the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia for $15.00
I would urge you to check out "A Catholic Commentary on Scripture" and do a search online. It is worth the money...
I would suggest you begin with St. Thomas Aquinas' Catena Aurea, which is a compilation of patristic comments on the texts of the four Gospels. It is at least partially available online from petersnet; just do a Google search on the title. The Catena Aurea can serve as a pointer to any number of Scriptural commentaries by the Fathers. You might wish to consider combining your Scripture study with the Liturgy of the Hours by celebrating together the Office of Readings (i.e., Matins or Vigils). That will expose your group to Scripture as it is used in the official prayer of the Church, as well as to patristic sermons on the Scriptural texts.
I seem to recall several years ago a three-volume Navarre Biblical Commentary, which had an excellent reputation, but I can't seem to locate it anymore. I think their approach now is to incorporate a revised commentary into a multivolume Bible; quite a number of books of this project are available now, but it is not yet complete. Ignatius Press is also following this approach in bringing out the Ignatius Study Bible.
If a well-annotated Bible would suffice for your purposes, I would recommend the 1966 version of the Jerusalem Bible. The full edition has a good set of brief introductory essays on each book, or group of books, of the canon, extensive notes on the text, and the best cross-referencing system I have ever seen. The New Jerusalem Bible is marred by the use of so-called "inclusive language", but the 1966 edition is still available from EWTN.
The two-volume edition of the Douay-Rheims Bible is now back in print as well. It contains Fr. Haydock's extensive notes and introductory essays, as well as some devotional illustrations. It's a bit expensive, but it counters quite a number of controversial interpretations of the text.
The Jerome Biblical Commentary is the one I have on my bookshelf. It has the advantage of being readily available from any number of bookstores, and can be quite useful. It does tend to rely on the historical-critical method more than is prudent, in my opinion, but if this is taken into account, there are many nuggets of serious scholarship to be gleaned from it. Though it can be somewhat technical, the Jerome contains useful essays on many subjects of Scriptural scholarship, and can serve as an introduction to the field.
If your goals are bit more modest, and you would like to incorporate apologetics into your study, you might try the Catholic Answer Bible, which uses the text of the New American Bible, and is published by Our Sunday Visitor. Another very useful resource I have found is a CD-ROM available from Ignatius Press called Welcome to the Catholic Church. In addition to searchable texts of the NAB and RSV Bibles and the Catena Aurea, it contains a Bible dictionary linked to the text, the new Catechism, the Catechism of Trent, Fr. Hardon's Catechism, Denzinger, a number of encyclicals, the documents of Vatican II, the Holy Father's Theology of the Body, Dr. Grisez' moral theology, Fr. Paone's daily meditation guide, a brief history of the Church, and several other excellent books.
Unfortuately, I haven't yet found a complete commentary available online. New Advent doesn't have one, and petersnet concentrates on single reference documents. But Google is our friend, and maybe you'll be able to turn up something by spending a few hours follow what it points you to.
Best of luck in this project. I hope you find this information of some help.
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